KDE 3.4 RC1 Released

twener writes "The KDE project has announced the first release candidate of KDE 3.4 which brings many new features targeted for release at 16th March. Sources (requirements list, build script), an i486 GNU/Linux Live-CD (375MB) and SUSE 9.2 binary packages are available currently. OSdir.com and tuxmachines.org have screenshots of this release. Source Code and a Live CD are available."

Comments

Constant Change

[HeelToe]

I'll probably get modded down for this, but my forays into KDE use have been separated by 6 months at a time. It seems the KDE team is emulating Microsoft's penchant for changing how major features of the interface work at frequent intervals.

I see lots of people complaining that each time Windows is updated they have to relearn the GUI, but honestly the same is true with KDE.

I'm not primarily a Windows user - I mostly use Mac OS X these days, but because of the amount of change that happens in KDE, I find it more trouble than it's worth and have begun to just stick with XFCE when I'm working on my Linux boxes.

It would be nice to see some consistency between major releases of KDE so that configurable items are still found in the same place when you upgrade, etc.

Re:Constant Change

[Coryoth]

this is how many such things are already done in KDE. margin hints, spacing hints, menu layouts... there are some things that just don't translate to being put in the libraries, however.

I think that's great, but in the end that is just hinting toward looks, not actually doing the job of laying out the GUI (which is possible). The really extreme approach is to actually decide how to represent things in the GUI - a component just says "I have feature X which has use priority Y and ..." and the HIG engine decides whether that features needs its own dialog, or a button on the toolbar, or ... and where (based on relationships to other functions and components) to place the function as a menu item in the main menu. Does the function show up in a context menu? Potentially you can define all of those things too.

Jedidiah.

Re:i486?

[Erik Hensema]

Besides that, the i486 is a very weird architecture. i386 optimized binaries run faster on a i586+ than i486 optimized binaries.

Never, ever optimize for i486, unless you own one. But then don't run KDE on it. You won't be happy.

Live CD's

[IceFox]

This is one area where Live cd's really shine. As a user I am able to download, burn and try out new major pieces of software and help out by reporting bugs v.s. before where most people would just wait for the 1.0 release and then report problems they spotted. Spend ten minute checking out the cool stuff in KDE 3.4 and make sure to report any bugs you find (In the help menu of every kde app there is a report bug action).

Along the lines of bugs, KDE's bug tracking system just reached it 100000 *reported* bug (not open) On the kde news site ther is a story about it include tips on how you can help report bugs/problems that you find in KDE to help make it better.

-Benjamin Meyer

Desktop Unity?

[Doc Ruby]

What happened to implementing the Shared MIME Info spec from FreeDesktop.org? As recently as 1/2005, KDE was "planning to support it for their next major release". GNOME already supports this way to focus on our data, with automatic integration with our apps, without worrying that we picked the right desktop to mediate between our apps and our data. Is the next "major" KDE release "4.0", and we have to wait a few years for MIME integration to catch up with GNOME? Or is the MIME layer already in 3.4, and this is just another action-packed OSS episode airing with hidden, inscrutable features not making it to the release notes?